The Meadow
by Above the Winter Moonlight
Summary: In the wake of the end of the war against Lightning, Kogami Ryoken reflects in a meadow similar to the one he used to lay in as a child. (Slight Datastormshipping)


**Hello everyone! I know that I have a heck of a lot of stories that I'm working on at the moment but I have been wanting to write a little story based on the scene in VRAINS after Ryoken lost to Lightning. And this is the result. Since I am a big Datastormshipper, this can be seen as Datastormshipping, whether it is platonic or romantic is up to you since I am very vague and it was deliberately left open-ended.**

**Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this little oneshot and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS. I never have and I never will.**_

**. . .**

**The Meadow**

**by Above the Winter Moonlight**

**. . .**

When Ryoken was little, he would often go out into the meadows that lay beyond his home and just lay among the flowers and tall swaying fronds of grass. As a child, the meadows were always such a peaceful place for him, a place where he could just lay down and gaze at the sky, watching as clouds of various shapes and sizes drifted slowly past.

After the Lost Incident, Ryoken hadn't spent nearly as much time in the meadow as he used to as a kid but it was nice to go there and relax whenever he had the chance, no matter how few and far in between those chances were.

Today was different. Today, Ryoken finally had the chance to get away. Even if the meadow he was currently in wasn't the same as the meadow around his home, even if he was only in the VRAINS, it still felt reminiscent of the meadows he used to lay in back home.

He turned his head slightly when he heard footsteps and tilted his head slightly, ice-blue eyes peering into bright green. "What brings you here, Playmaker?" he said upon noticing his rival was standing at his side, watching him with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Revolver, why are you laying in the middle of a meadow in the middle of nowhere?" Playmaker asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ryoken matched his expression, a faint smirk on his lips. "Why are you in the middle of a meadow in the middle of nowhere, Playmaker?" he said.

Playmaker huffed, blowing out a breath of irritation.

"It was Ai's fault, wasn't it?" Ai. To think that, after all this time of referring to the Ignis only by that name, Ryoken was actually calling the Ignis by the name that he had been given. He knew that his feelings toward the Ignis were liable to never change but he was too comfortable, too at peace, to bother on holding onto that feeling at the moment.

The last time that Ryoken called Ai by his name had been after his defeat at Lightning's hands.

To think that he'd lost to Lightning in a place very similar to the meadow that he was currently laying in, the meadow that brought back nice memories from his childhood before everything went to hell in a hand basket.

Before the Lost Incident. Before SOL or, rather, Lightning, according to Lightning himself, had infected his father with that virus. Before he had become the leader of the Knights of Hanoi.

Back when he had first met the very boy standing next to him.

"VRAINS is supposed to be closed," Playmaker said, not even responding to Ryoken's question.

"And your point is?"

"You're not supposed to be here."

"It's quite easy to hack into the program to where I can visit this place and not alert SOL Tech to my location. I suspect that is what you also did to ensure that you also wouldn't be detected."

"Still."

Ryoken rolled onto his side and propped himself on his elbow, a smirk still on his lips. "You aren't supposed to be here either, you know, and yet you are. I doubt you knew I was here so what is the actual reason why you are here, Playmaker?" he said.

Playmaker let out a breath but sat down. "I need some time to think," he said finally, his brow furrowing. "Mostly about...Ai."

"Hoh? Something wrong?"

"He hasn't been back since Bohman's defeat but, when he left, he seemed...different and I'm not sure what's going on."

It wasn't as if Ryoken even cared about the Ignis. He didn't. He still felt that the Ignis were a threat to humanity. Even if the Dark Ignis was the only Ignis left, Ryoken stuck by his belief that the Ignis were still a threat. He didn't feel any compassion for the Dark Ignis and whatever he was going through.

But a part of him did feel a small sense of compassion for the boy seated beside him.

Even if Ryoken had told Playmaker that he regretted saving him all those years ago, a part of him didn't. A part of him was glad that he'd called the police and saved Playmaker and the other five victims of the Lost Incident. A part of him was glad that he was able to stop those six children from being tortured even more.

Even if that call had cost him his father.

The guilt that he bore as a result was something that he knew he would always carry with him. Even if what Lightning said was true, a small part of Ryoken would always feel guilty over what happened to his father.

But he decided against telling Playmaker about his feelings toward the Ignis. Playmaker already knew about his feelings toward the Ignis anyway so it would be redundant.

Instead, he decided to offer some sense of reassurance.

He relaxed back onto his back, turning his gaze to the cloudless blue sky above his head, noticing absently that the plump white clouds from earlier were gone and only slivers remained. "He probably just needs some time to come to terms with what happened. Even if he is an A.I., grief does affect everyone differently and everyone handles grief differently."

"I suppose you're right," Playmaker said. There was a moment of silence, then: "Do you mind if I join you?"

Ryoken waved a hand dismissively at Playmaker. He didn't mind. Playmaker was quiet after all and Ryoken didn't have to worry about that annoying A.I. intruding upon the peaceful moment anyway.

He heard movement and, out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Playmaker laid down next to him, his green gaze fixed on the sky above their heads.

"It's not the same as the meadows back home," Ryoken mused, eyes tracing the clouds that drifted across the pale-blue surface. "But, then, this isn't real so that could be why."

"Did you really used to go into the meadow and just lay there when you were a kid?" Playmaker asked.

"All the time, before everything happened anyway. Even after the incident, though, I tried to do so but it wasn't as often. It has always been very relaxing and peaceful," Ryoken said. He lazily lifted a hand and gestured toward a cloud that was drifting forward. "Sometimes, I see shapes in the clouds. That one looks like a duck."

"It does? I don't see it."

Ryoken turned his head to the side, a chuckle escaping his lips. "You've never cloud gazed before, have you?" he said.

"I've never had the time for something like that. I've been very busy."

"So have I." Ryoken turned his gaze to the sky and he found his thoughts drifting to his final duel with Playmaker on the Tower of Hanoi and how Playmaker had tried to convince him to seize a new future together.

It wasn't going to happen, not while the Ignis remained a threat, but Ryoken found himself wondering of what he would do once the Ignis were no longer a threat. It wasn't as if he had ever thought that far. He had fully expected to just turn himself in to the police once the Ignis were defeated but who knew if that meant he would spend the rest of his life in prison or if he would get a light sentence.

He figured, considering all the cyber terrorism that he has been doing, it was more likely going to be the former.

So he doubted that there was a future for him, which was why he hadn't bothered on agreeing to Playmaker's offer. He didn't have a future. His duty was to destroying the Ignis, saving humanity, and then facing the consequences of his actions.

He would never have a future so there was no future for him to seize.

"Revolver, we could still do it, you know?" Playmaker said quietly. "Now that the war against Lightning is over, we could still seize that new future together. We don't have to be enemies anymore."

"You don't get it, Playmaker," Ryoken said, turning his gaze to gaze at his rival. "So long as you side with the Ignis, we will always be enemies. Besides, I have no future so there is no new future for me to seize."

"Don't say that," Playmaker insisted. "We could create a better future for ourselves together. Ai isn't an enemy. I know that all of us can coexist together. I believe that it is possible to coexist together and we can all have a better future."

"So you said, something similar anyway, during our duel on the Tower of Hanoi." Ryoken turned his gaze to the sky. "Whether the Dark Ignis is an enemy or not does not change the fact that he is a threat, and will always be a threat. And...there are consequences for my actions, Playmaker. I will have to pay those consequences eventually."

"..." Playmaker didn't respond for a long moment. "That doesn't mean that you should lose hope that you can find a better future for yourself."

"...You are far too optimistic, Playmaker."

A faint smile crossed Playmaker's lips when Ryoken glanced at him. It was the first smile that Ryoken has ever seen on his rival's lips. It succeeded in softening his face quite a bit, making him look calm and at peace. The meadow's peaceful nature seemed to be affecting Playmaker as well. "Most people see me as a pessimist," he admitted. "So I suppose it's a nice change to be seen as an optimist for once."

Ryoken hummed.

Playmaker's smile faded and he studied Ryoken. "I still want to save you, Revolver," he said quietly, "Even if you see us as enemies, I can never forget what you did for me during the Lost Incident and I do still want to find a way to ensure that our futures can be like today."

"Like today?"

Playmaker gestured to the meadow. "Peaceful, like this meadow is peaceful," he said.

Ryoken was silent for a long moment, knowing that so long as the Ignis remained a threat, that day would never come. But he didn't say that out loud because he found that he would love to have a future of peace, where he wouldn't have to worry about any threats against humanity, where he could just live out his life in peace.

"It would be nice," he said finally.

"Yes, it would be."

They remained in silence for a long moment, simply enjoying the peace the meadow provided and watching as slivers of cloud drifted across the sky.

A soft beep broke the silence.

Playmaker glanced at his duel disk. "Kusanagi is wondering where I am. I should get going," he said as he pushed himself to his feet.

Ryoken waved a hand. "I should be getting back myself," he said but didn't move from his spot.

"You're not moving."

"I'm going to stay for a few more minutes."

"I see." Playmaker turned around.

Ryoken turned his head to gaze at Playmaker's back, thinking about the little kid that he had run into over ten years earlier. Those innocent green eyes that looked back at him and the excited that crossed those lips when Ryoken had offered to bring him back to his house so they could compare decks.

Even if things spiraled out of control after that incident, the time that Ryoken spent with Playmaker before Playmaker's capture had been enjoyable and innocent.

It made Ryoken think about his words at the Tower of Hanoi again and how that small part of him didn't believe his own words.

And, even though he was sure Playmaker might already know it, he found himself speaking.

"Playmaker...no, Yusaku..." he said.

Playmaker stopped.

"I don't regret saving you more than ten years ago."

Playmaker was silent for a long moment and then turned to Ryoken, a soft faint smile on his lips.

"I know," he said finally and, in a burst of blue particles, he was gone.

Ryoken turned his gaze to the sky and huffed. "Am I really that transparent that he already _knew_ I was lying back on the Tower of Hanoi?" he muttered and mused that he would have to work on being less transparent.

Still, seeing that smile on Fujiki Yusaku's lips, no matter how faint it was, was well worth being seen as transparent.

**. . .**


End file.
